Introduction
With advancing technology, every sphere of people’s lives is subjected to change and improvement. This process creates an environment where people working in any professional field have to constantly continue learning in order to stay adequately qualified. This tendency does not only influence a person’s working skills and abilities but also enhances his or her personal qualities. Lifelong learning can help to stay mentally agile and develop various sides of personality. Therefore, professional development cannot happen without gaining new knowledge and competencies, which also improves other personal qualities.
Main Statements
Lifelong learning can be provided with the help of many different activities. They can include traditional ways like graduate and postgraduate courses, continuing education courses, or a more practical approach, which refers to learning by doing and gaining experience. The key qualities required for being able to engage in continuous development over the years include being open to new ideas, being curious and questioning, learning from successful people, and also teaching others. Learning is not only a feature of educational institutions, it can be done long after finishing school or graduating from university. Everything in one’s environment, both working and personal, can contribute to self-improvement and self-development.
One of the most crucial skills in being able to engage in lifelong learning is the ability of self-reflection. The process of self-reflection roots in metacognition, which was defined by Goupil and Kouider (2019) as the “ability to reflect on our own mental representations to regulate cognition and optimize learning” (p. 403). However, while metacognition is developed in early childhood, in most cases, self-reflection needs to be developed consciously at an older age (Goupil and Kouider, 2019). Being self-reflective can result in understanding and improving many other skills, needed both for professional and private life. At the same time, increasing self-reflective abilities can be done in multiple ways, and it is not always a lonely process.
One of the ways to engage in lifelong learning is finding a mentor. Having a person who can guide and teach from their personal experience is crucial in professional development. A mentor does not simply give instructions; he or she encourages and motivates the mentees, offering them opportunities and methods of self-improving. In the research of Tuomikoski, A.-M., Ruotsalainen, H., Mikkonen, K., and Kääriäinen, M., focused on the mentoring of nurses, it is pointed out that a successful mentoring relationship has several constituents. They include ensuring an interactive relationship, the mentor being motivating, patient, and thoughtful, providing goal-oriented mentoring, supporting the development and learning process of the mentees (Tuomikoski et al., 2019). Together with multiple qualities of a good mentor, the mentees have to be engaged in the process to ensure the progress is happening. Only with active participation of both sides, it is possible to reach professional goals.
However, even being consulted by a mentor or a coach about further professional agendas can be challenging. In Hauer et al.’s (2018) research of fostering lifelong learning skills, some students reported not receiving the right amount and form of guidance in order to understand how to improve. This shows that simply having someone to be guided by is not enough to engage in lifelong learning and to develop the necessary skills.
Conclusion
Therefore, the significance of improving one’s professional competencies and personal qualities throughout life is undeniable. In order to succeed in this process, it is necessary to understand the motivations and reasons, meaning one has to enhance self-reflective skills. To ensure continuous growth, one can be guided by a mentor. However, the mentoring process is not passive and one-sided, and the mentee has to be engaged in self-improvement, not only receiving information but interpreting it and putting it into practice.
References
Goupil, L., & Kouider, S. (2019). Developing a reflective mind: From core metacognition to explicit self-reflection. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(4), 403-408. Web.
Hauer, K.E., Iverson, N., Quach, A., Yuan P., Kaner S., & Boscardin C. (2018). Fostering medical students’ lifelong learning skills with a dashboard, coaching and learning planning. Perspectives on Medical Education, 7, 311–317. Web.
Tuomikoski, A.-M., Ruotsalainen, H., Mikkonen, K., & Kääriäinen, M. (2019). Nurses’ experiences of their competence at mentoring nursing students during clinical practice: A systematic review of qualitative studies. Nurse Education Today, 85, 104258. Web.